TOKAIMURA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT EXPOSES JAPAN'S FAILED SAFETY CULTURE ON EVE OF ARRIVAL OF PLUTONIUM SHIPMENT

30 September 1999

Tokyo -- The accident at the Tokaimura nuclear site earlier today exposes once again the lack of an adequate safety culture in Japan, said Greenpeace. The explosion and contamination of workers at the government run site north of Tokyo, comes less than 24 hours before the arrival of a shipment of weapons-usable plutonium at the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. The plutonium shipment is now at the center of a scandal due to the producers of the fuel, British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), having admitted to falsifying important safety data during production. The owners of the Takahama reactor are now investigating the scandal, but Greenpeace believes that they are still trying to limit the investigation and ignoring basic safety standards.

"Whether it is the Japanese government, BNFL or Kansai Electric [KEPCO, operators of the Takahama plant], all have a vested commercial interest in ignoring expensive safety standards. Today's accident at Tokaimura confirms our fears: the entire safety culture within Japan is in crisis and the use of dangerous plutonium in reactors here will only increase the probability of a nuclear catastrophe", said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International.

The Tokaimura site has a range of nuclear facilities, including a plutonium reprocessing plant that suffered a fire and explosion in April 1997, which at the time was Japan's most serious accident. The operators of the plant are currently considering reopening the plant later this year, despite having no need for any more plutonium. Japan currently has a stockpile of over 5 tonnes of plutonium in Japan, with a further 30 tonnes in Europe, awaiting to be shipped to Japan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International, mobile (+81) 090 2253 7306
- Sanae Shida, Greenpeace Japan, mobile (+81) 090 2252 9528
- Greenpeace Press Desk (+81) 090 1054 5443
- Footage of the Tokaimura plant is available on request